


Sleeping Beauty : A Father's Story

by Pastaaddict



Series: Hetalia Tales [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Angry sorceress, First son kidnapped, Gen, Missing Family, Second son in hiding, originally Posted on FanFiction.Net under the same name, waiting for son to come home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-01 23:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17876891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pastaaddict/pseuds/Pastaaddict
Summary: Sleeping Beauty from King Romulus's prospective...





	Sleeping Beauty : A Father's Story

 

**_**A Father's Story** _ **

 

It began with the celebration of the birth of Prince Lovino. King Romulus began to realise that inviting the Dark Sorceress, Princess Natalya of Belarus was a mistake. It had started so well. Germania's King, Wolfgang's two year old son, Ludwig would be betrothed to Lovino to join the two kingdoms. The Three Fae arrived, flying in on gossamer wings and presented their blessings to the long awaited Italian royal heir. Beauty from Arthur of the Kirkland Clan, Song from Lukas of the Bondevik Tribe and True Love from Vladimir of the Drakulya Line. Everybody was enjoying themselves and cooed over little Prince Lovino.

And then Princess Natalya turned up late to the celebration. She had been invited as a representative of the Russian Royal Family as her brother was occupied with searching for their sister, Katyusha, Princess Royal of Ukraine, who had disappeared without trace.

It went well at first as she seemed to behave with no sign of the dark moods that were reputed to overcome the royal of late. And then came the seating for the feast.

It was common practise for magic users to be regarded as the same social level as visiting royalty and so Natalya was placed with the Fae but she took exception to this.

"How dare you!" she stormed. "I am the sister of the Ice King of the Russias! And you dare to treat me like this!"

"Your Excellency," Romulus replied. "I assure you that …... " But Natalya refused to listen.

"You'll regret this!" she promised and stormed from the palace. There was a moment of awkward silence as the whole party witness the over-reaction of the Belarusian. Romulus turned and smiled at his remaining guests.

"Please, everybody," he said. "Enjoy yourselves!" The guest returned to the feast and the awkward moment past, Natalya's behaviour eventually fading from everyone's mind.

Two days later, everyone would be reminded.

* * *

The night one day after the party, shadowy figures stole into the nursery. They approached the cradle and looked down at the snoozing baby with dark red-brown hair with a wayward curl on the right side of his head. The leader reached down and plucked the baby from the cradle

Then they stole out of the castle with their prize.

* * *

Romulus's valet had just finished dressing him when the nurse assigned to Prince Lovino suddenly burst into his dressing room. She was so wildly distressed that, at first, she could not speak and Romulus's valet grabbed her shoulders.

"You cannot just come into the King's Chambers like that!" he scolded, sternly but the girl pulled herself from his grip and ran to Romulus.

"Your Majesty," she gasped as she gave a quick bow. "Prince Lovino is missing! The Queen and I went to the nursery to attend to him and the cradle was empty. The guards are searching for him now but …... " Romulus ran for the nursery.

When he arrived, he found Maria, his Queen, weeping over the cradle which was minus its occupant. He took Maria in his arms and held her in comfort. A guard came into the nursery.

"Any sign?" he asked. The guard shook his head.

"No, Sire!" he replied. "But we're still searching."

"Search everywhere!" Romulus ordered. "The palace and the town. Leave no stone unturned. My son has to be somewhere and I want him found! And summon the Three Fae!" The guard left and Romulus continued to hug Maria.

"We'll find him, Cara mia," he reassured her. "I promise!"

* * *

When the Three Fae arrived, Lovino still had not been found and the inconsolable Queen Maria had been taken to her chambers. The Fae encountered a distraught father, ordering his guards to prepare for a journey to find Natalya's castle because Romulus was convinced that she had something to do with his son's disappearance, remembering her threat at the celebration.

The problem was that the moment the Fae entered the nursery, they knew Natalya had not been there. There was no trace of magic, not even an old trace so they could not prove Natalya had anything to do with the young heir's disappearance, although they could not help but sense that King Romulus was right about Natalya's involvement.

The Three Fae were the only ones who could find Natalya's castle and took the guards there. Natalya was surprisingly sanguine about their presence and allowed them access to her castle as she stroked a little crow chick.

"Search all you like," she replied. "If you find the little prince here, you can have him but you're not going to." The guards searched every nook and cranny, watched by pig guards as they moved from chamber to chamber. Trying to sense magic would be useless as the whole castle was infused with it, like trying to find a single grain of sand on a beach. No sign of Lovino was found and Natalya waved them off with a self-satisfied smirk on her face while still holding the baby crow.

* * *

Romulus did not take the news well!

"She has something to do with this!" he blustered. "I know she has!"

"Your Majesty, I agree," Arthur replied. Natalya's entire attitude was as if she knew something they did not. "But we could not find him at her castle but she knows something. She may have hidden him but she isn't likely to tell us where and we can't do anything to force her to."

"If she's hiding my son, we'll find him," Romulus stated. "We'll search everywhere."

"Sire, she could have hidden him in any of the kingdoms," Lukas pointed out.

"Then we'll search every kingdom," Romulus relied with determination. "I'll have my ambassadors contact every monarch to enlist their help. Your excellency, can you talk to your king?" Romulus looked at Vladimir who nodded.

"I'm sure my king would be happy to help, Your Majesty," Vladimir bowed. Romulus turned to the other two Fae.

"And you …?"

"I'll go, immediately, Sire," Arthur replied and Lukas also nodded. With a bow, the Three Fae raised their wands and magicked themselves to their respective home kingdoms. Romulus sat down wearily and finally shed tears for his missing son.

* * *

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and still no sign of the Italian heir but before the king and queen could fall into complete despondency, something happened to raise their spirits. It was discovered the Queen Maria was with child again and a little over a year after Lovino's kidnapping, she gave birth to another son. While Lovino had dark red-brown hair with a curl on the right side, little Prince Feliciano was more auburn with a curl on the left. And just as cute as his brother had been.

There was another celebration for Feliciano's birth and his betrothal to the now three year old son of the King of Germania after an agreement to break the original betrothal, not that Romulus believed that they would never find Lovino but royal politics demanded that they work with the facts as they stand and the facts were that nobody knew where Lovino was so Feliciano was promised to Ludwig instead. As it turned out, this would work well in the future.

But, as convinced of Natalya's guilt as he was, Romulus refused to invited her to this party and she was not happy about it.

* * *

She watched the celebration with the aid of a mirror, using it like a window on to the merry-making with growing fury.

How dare they not invite her! She! The only one left of the Russian Royal Family! Never mind that it was because she had cursed her older brother and sister, she was the last! She should have been invited! But she had been slighted, just because Romulus suspected her of taking his first-born. It did not matter that he was right!

The final insult came when the arrival of the Three Fae was announced and they flew into the throne room. THEY INVITED THEM BUT NOT HER! That was the final straw. Calling her crow to her, she magicked herself to the throne room. Just as the Romanian Fae was about to give his blessing, Natalya blew the doors open and winds extinguished candles in the throne room as she and her crow strolled in.

Romulus was, in equal parts, angry and worried. Chaos followed this woman wherever she went. And with his new son in the room...

"Well, King Romulus," Natalya said, coldly in a Belarusian accent. "This is quite an assembly. Every noble and social rank in all the kingdoms …." Her eyes stopped the sight of the Fae, "Including the rabble!"

The Three Fae glowered at Natalya, Arthur and Lukas holding back Vladimir as he looked ready to attack her.

"I had wondered if my invitation had gone astray," she continued, stroking her pet with the knuckles of her left hand. The crow was strange looking as it had rich brown feathers rather than black and had brown eyes the colour of warm caramel and a feather stuck out on the right side of his head in a curl.

"If I didn't know better,” Natalya continued. “I would have said that I wasn't wanted.”

"After what happened last time,” Romulus replied. “I would have thought you would not want to come.” 

“So I wasn't invited!” Natalya exclaimed. "Oh, that is awkward! Well, in that case I better leave before I cause any discomfort." Natalya turned away but it would not be left at that as she turned back.

"But I can't leave without, at least bestowing a gift on the new prince," the Dark Sorceress said with a tone that had the Fae surrounding the cradle. "Just to show I have no hard feelings."

"Prince Feliciano will grow to be a beautiful boy,” Natalya announced. “And he will be loved by everyone he meets. BUT!" The crow flew off the crystal globe as she stroked her hand over it and a shadow play formed in the air

"On his sixteenth birthday,” Natalya said. “Before sundown, he will prick his finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel, (the shadows pulled together to form a figure sat at a spinning wheel) and DIE!" (the figure fell away and lay like a corpse on the ground)

Feliciano began to cry and his mother ran to him to comfort and protect him from the dangerous sorceress in their midst.

"ARREST HER!" Romulus ordered, angrily, his Italian blood boiling that anyone would threaten his son. Guards ran to obey their king but Natalya flicked her fingers at them, making them duck as knives flew from nowhere and she banged her staff on the floor.

"Stay back, idiots!" Flames shot up around Natalya and engulfed her and her crow and the fire vanished taking both mistress and pet with it leaving behind Natalya's mocking laughter.

Silence hung around the throne room broken only by the Queen softly crying, hugging her son. The three Fae looked at each other as they try to decide what to do as Romulus embraced his weeping wife and crying infant son. The sight broke Arthur's heart.

"Don't despair, Your Majesty," he said, softly. "Vladimir hasn't given his gift yet."

"He can undo this curse, Si ( _Yes_ ) ?" he asked, hopefully. But his hopes were dashed. Vladimir held up his hands and shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, Sire!" he replied, emphatically. Arthur came to his side, "Natalya's too powerful." Lukas pushed Vladimir forward.

"But he can help." He pushed him a little further in front. "Just give your best shot."

Vladimir sighed and thought hard about what he could do to offset the curse and knew there was only one way he could, raised his wand and chanted the spell so all could understand.

 

_"Tiny prince, Your finger pricked by the spindle is true._

_But the curse of Death is not your due._

_The repose of sleep is where you'll dwell._

__Until True Love's Kiss can break the spell."_ _

 

A swirl of glittering magic covered Feliciano and was absorbed into his skin. Vladimir gave a sigh.

"That's all I can do," he said with a tone of regret. Romulus appreciated his effort but he wanted more protection for his son so he ordered that all spinning wheels would be collected and burnt. All ownership of spinning wheels was banned and punishable by death.

* * *

Romulus and Maria were spending the evening with Feliciano in their chambers, too afraid to leave him for a moment. Maria would not let Feli go and held him tight in her arms while Romulus looked out of the window into the courtyard where the first of the spinning wheels were being thrown onto a large bonfire.

Romulus had made arrangements with King Wolfgang to send wool to be spun in Germania and brought back to Italy to be woven into cloth so spinning wheels would not be needed but Romulus felt that Feliciano was still at risk.

There was a knock on the chamber door and the Three Fae entered with Romulus's permission. They were dressed in ordinary mortal clothes and missing their wings. Arthur looked a little apprehensive.

"Your Majesty," he said. "We have a plan to protect Prince Feliciano. I should warn you that you probably won't like it!" Romulus already had a feeling of foreboding.

"What's your plan?" he asked, warily.

"We take Prince Feliciano into hiding," Lukas replied. "Until his sixteenth birthday. We plan to hide out as mortals without magic. That way we can't be traced by Natalya but we'll have to stay away from everybody we know. Unfortunately, this also means you!" Queen Maria held Feliciano tighter to her and Romulus's face took on a defiant look.

"NO!" he said, adamantly. "I've lost one son, I will NOT lose another. Absolutely not!"

The Three Fae looked at each other. They were expecting this!

"Your Majesty," Vladimir told him. "Burning every spinning wheel in the kingdom won't work. Natalya will find a way to bring this curse about but she can't do that if she can't find Prince Feliciano. And the less people who know where he is, the less chance of Natalya ever finding him."

"I will not allow this!" Romulus replied, cupping Feli's head, gently. "We'll protect him here!"

"That can't be guaranteed," Arthur pointed out. "If he stays here, Natalya will know where to get at him. Taking Prince Feliciano and hiding out as mortals will make it harder for Natalya to find us."

"But we'll be without our son," Queen Maria replied, tears crawling down her face. Arthur's heart broke at the sight but they had to think about Feli's safety.

"But he'll be safer than he is here," he replied, softly. "Natalya will strike if he stays here. I know what I'm asking of you is a lot but it is to protect your son." He turned to King Romulus.

"What's more important to you, Your Majesty?" he asked. "Your son's presence or his safety? You don't have the ability to protect him from someone of Natalya's power. This is his best chance!" King Romulus turned back to the window.

"I need to consider this," he said, without looking back at the Fae. Lukas nodded.

"Of course, Sire," and the Three Fae took their leave of the royal family while King Romulus and Queen Maria made the hardest decision of their lives.

* * *

King Romulus held Queen Maria as she wept in his arms while they watched the Three Fae disappear into the forest with their most treasured possession. Their infant son.

They had made the hard decision to send Feliciano to safety and now they had to live without him for the next sixteen years.

Romulus hoped he had made the right decision.

* * *

_A year later..._

It was Feliciano's birthday. Romulus reflected on the fact that Feli was now one and Lovino would be two. Their first teeth, their first steps. Feli might have said his first word, Lovino certainly would have.

Romulus and his Queen had missed them all

How many more things would they miss in the lives of their sons. And that was only in two years of Lovino's life and one year of Feli's. He wondered where they were right now and how the Fae were doing, raising Feli.

Not for the first time, Romulus questioned his decision to send his youngest son away.

* * *

Years past and Romulus had send yet another cortège out to search for Lovino in the other kingdoms. This one was going to Spain with the permission of Queen Isabella who sympathise with the Italian Royalty. She herself had a son and could not imagine what King Romulus and Queen Maria were going through.

The years had been filled with milestones for both princes. Birthdays, first days of schooling, time when they would have started learning royal protocol, learning combat. Every important day in the life of a royal prince and Romulus and Maria were missing them all.

Lovino would be sixteen and Feliciano would be fifteen. There was still no sign of Lovino, despite the many pretenders that Romulus and Maria had been forced to endure but in another year, Feliciano would be back.

The next year was one of anticipation.

* * *

_Feliciano's sixteenth birthday..._

King Wolfgang was hovering over the food table, grabbing bites of food while Romulus paced back and forth in front of the window watching the sun begin to descend. It was late afternoon and Feliciano would not arrive until sunset but that did not stop Romulus looking out for him.

Queen Maria was in her chambers with her ladies-in-waiting, preparing for the evening and Romulus could only guess that the same things were running through her mind as his. What would Feli look like? Arthur had given him the gift of beauty so Romulus suspected Feli would be handsome but he wondered what kind of person he had become under the guardianship of the Three Fae? How would he react to the news that he was the Missing Prince of Italy as he had been dubbed. Lovino was referred to as the Lost Prince of Italy, a name Romulus did not care for. It implied that his eldest son would never be found.

And how would Feliciano react to the news that he was betrothed to the heir to the throne of Germania, Prince Ludwig. Romulus worried about how Feli would feel when his life turned upside down. He hoped to introduce his son into his new life gently and once again looked out of the throne room window at the people below, getting ready to celebrate the return of the youngest prince.

He was fretting up a storm when Wolfgang spoke up.

"Cheer up, my friend," he said. "Eat something. The seafood is especia..."

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT SEAFOOD!" Romulus snapped. Then he realised he had just shouted at his friend for no good reason. "Mi scusi _(Excuse me_ ) _,_ Wolf. It's just after all this time, never knowing..."

"Mien freund _(My friend_ ) _,_ that's all in the past," Wolfgang declared. "The boy's as good as back. After today it will all be an unpleasant memory, best forgotten." He called over one of his servants who brought a bottle of wine over to the two monarchs. Wolfgang filled two goblets and handed one to Romulus.

"Now, time for a toast with a fine vintage I've been saving for this very day," he said, knocking his goblet against it Romulus's. "To the unification of our kingdoms." Romulus finally smiled.

"To The United Kingdom," Romulus agreed and they both drank. Wolfgang picked up a scroll from the table and unrolled it, showing it to Romulus.

"Plans?"

"The newly-weds will need a place of their own," Wolfgang replied. "This is a small palace really. Fourteen bedrooms, dining hall, throne room. A place to raise their little brood." Both princes could choose a consort and the first child born would rule the kingdom. Except it was known that Prince Ludwig preferred men so it looked like Feliciano would have to produce the next heir.

"To the new home!" Wolfgang announced, raising his goblet. Romulus shrugged. Feliciano and Ludwig might want time alone to get to know each other after the marriage, after all, they would be ruling both kingdoms together one day. So he drank too.

"When are you going to build this?" Romulus asked.

"Already built," Wolfgang proclaimed. "They can move in immediately." Romulus almost choked on his wine.

"They're not married yet!"

"Have a priest waiting and that will be dealt with tonight," Wolfgang waved off Romulus's concerns. This was what they had been moving toward for the past sixteen years.

Romulus was not happy with the speed Wolfgang wanted to move at. Romulus had been waiting for his son's return for sixteen years and he did not want to lose him just yet. Both he and Maria wanted time to get to know Feliciano before they had to give him up to marriage.

"I haven't even seen my son yet and you want to take him from me right away," he said. Romulus would honour the betrothal in time but not right now. He wanted at least a year or two with his son first.

"You'll still visit and you're getting Ludwig as a son-in-law." Why could Wolfgang not see the problem? He was moving too fast.

"Ludwig is a fine young man," Romulus replied. "But you must realise that Feliciano is not aware of any of this. It might come as a big shock."

What Romulus did not know was that the same worry had crossed Wolfgang's mind. He had no idea what kind of person Feliciano had grown up to be and it could lead him to react badly to the revelation about his life, that he could be hearing about this right now. It had plagued on his mind and now caused him to lose his temper.

"Why wouldn't your son like mine?" he demanded, feeling that his family was being insulted, although he knew that was not what Romulus meant.

"That's not what I said," Romulus replied, surprised at Wolfgang's reaction which seemed extreme.

"Maybe my son won't like yours," Wolfgang retorted. "Maybe my grandchildren won't want you for a grandfather." Wolfgang knew that was uncalled for but he could not seem to stop his mouth.

Romulus lost his temper.

"You blustering, bad-tempered, old windbag," he snapped.

"DAS BEDEUTET KRIEG! _(THIS MEANS WAR!_ ) _"_ Wolfgang bellowed, his hand falling on something on the table. He picked it up and swung it. Romulus picked up the tray that the wine had been brought in on and held it up in front of him and a steamed trout slapped against the metal tray. Romulus stared at the trout that dangled limply in Wolfgang's grip. A bubble of laughter forced its way through the anger and stress and burst out of his mouth. Wolfgang began laughing too. It was five minutes before either of them could say anything.

"What were we fighting about?" Romulus gasped when he had enough breath back. Wolfgang chuckled.

"Nothing!" he replied. "Absolutely nothing. The boys are bound to like each other." Romulus nodded.

"And as for grandchildren, I'll ordered the cradle construction tomorrow," Romulus raised his goblet. "To the grandchildren!"

"HIC!"

Romulus and Wolfgang looked around for the source of the strange noise and when it sounded again, they traced it to under the table. The servant who had brought the wine was curled up, clutching an empty goblet and he belched with contentment.

"His Royal Eminence, Prince Ludwig," a voice sounded from below the window and Wolfgang rushed out of the throne room. Romulus decided to leave the servant where he was and let Wolfgang deal with him when he came back. After all, he was his servant and Romulus went back to the window and watched as the sun slowly dipped toward the horizon.

* * *

Twilight was almost upon them when Wolfgang returned. The throne room had filled up with courtiers and Queen Maria was sat on her throne, talking to Queen Isabella. The sun was just peeking over the horizon and, in a few minutes, it would disappear and Feliciano would appear soon after. Romulus was so pre-occupied with the thought that he would soon be meeting the son he had been separated from for sixteen years, he did not notice Wolfgang until he spoke.

"I have to tell you something, Rom," he said.

"Please not now! Wolf," Romulus replied. "Feliciano will be here any minute." Only a little of sun remain now. In a minute it would be gone and Romulus did not want any distractions in this long awaited moment.

"But it's about Ludwig!"

"Ludwig?" Romulus looked round and saw that the Germanic heir was not there. "He should be here, Wolf. Better call him, immediately."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you ….." A fanfare of trumpets and both men looked out of the window. The sun had finally disappeared over the horizon.

A roar of happy voices drifted up from outside as the people began to celebrate the return of Prince Feliciano.

* * *

Minutes passed as Wolfgang was trying to explain something to him but was a long time getting to the point as if he were putting it off. Romulus's eyes were focused on the doors to the throne room, expecting the Three Fae to come in any moment, escorting Feliciano. How much longer was he going to have to wait before he could finally hold his son. He could barely concentrate on what Wolfgang was saying.

He was beginning to feel unaccountably tired, so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. He did not notice that everyone else was falling asleep too. Prince Gilbert of Prussia, Wolfgang's stepson, was snoozing on the throne platform steps. Queen Maria had succumbed and Queen Isabella was draped over the arm of her chair.

The last thing Romulus heard before sleep overcame him was...

"After all this is a new century."

Then sweet oblivion swallowed him up.

* * *

Romulus slowly roused and shook his head to clear it of the cobwebs of sleep, not noticing that it was now morning. He had fallen asleep on the day his son was coming home! How could he do that! Then he realised that he had fallen asleep in mid-conversation with his friend. He looked at his friend who seemed a little dazed.

"Mi scusi _(Excuse me_ ) _,_ Wolf," he apologised. "Too much wine. Now what were you saying?"

"Oh yes!" Wolfgang replied after giving his head a shake. "After all, this is a new century." Romulus was sure Wolfgang had just repeated himself.

"You said that a moment ago," he pointed out. Maybe that wine had been stronger than they thought. Wolfgang sighed in defeat.

"Well, to get to the point," he replied, preparing himself for the worst. "Ludwig says he's going to marry a ….." He was cut off by trumpets and the throne doors opened. Romulus's heart began to beat fast. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

"Feliciano!" he cried and turned to Maria. "Our son is here." All eyes turned to the doors.

Two people came through the doors. The tall, blonde, blue-eyed man he recognised as Wolfgang's son, Prince Ludwig but it was the small young man dressed in blue on his arm that held Romulus's attention. He was closer to the Queen's build so he was slight and he had auburn-brown hair with a curl sticking out to the left. He looked round with beautiful amber eyes at everyone and then gazed up at Ludwig with adoration. Romulus took pride in the fact that Feliciano bore a resemblance to him. Romulus was a little confused as to why it was Ludwig that escorted Feliciano to the throne room instead of the Three Fae but all that mattered was that Feliciano was here.

The boy's eyes finally fell on them and Queen Maria gave a happy sob. She opened her arms to her son and Feliciano ran into them. Maria wrapped her arms round Feli and hugged him tight for the first time in sixteen years. Romulus felt moisture prickle the corners of his eyes and he put his own arms around his wife and son and held them close.

"Mama," Feli whispered. "Papa" Romulus had never heard a sound so sweet.

"Welcome home, my son," he replied and let happy tears flow down his face.

Wolfgang appeared to be confused as if this was not what he was expecting and he was a little flustered. Feliciano smiled, went up to Wolfgang and kissed him on both cheeks, after which Wolfgang just seemed to accept everything while a shout of 'Awesome, bruder!' came from the direction of Prince Gilbert.

The music started and Ludwig pulled Feliciano into a dance while everybody looked on. Romulus had never been so happy. He had one of his sons back and then, suddenly, Feli's clothes began changing from blue to pink and back again. He looked up at the balcony above the throne room and saw the Three Fae, Arthur and Lukas flicking their wands as they fought over what colour Feli's clothes should be.

Queen Marie took Romulus's arm as she watched her son being whirled around the floor by his fiancé.

"If only we had Lovino here," she sighed. "Our family would be complete." But she still smiled.

"We'll find him, Cara mia," Romulus promised. "One day, we'll find him!"

He had no idea it would be sooner than he thought as, back at Natalya's castle, her pet crow changed into a young man of seventeen. And Prince Lovino began planning his journey back to his family.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Next : Lovino's story...


End file.
